{"id":98556,"date":"2018-07-30T17:09:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T23:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/road-show-montezuma-county-claims-over-historic-routes-not-in-publics-interest\/"},"modified":"2018-07-30T17:09:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-30T23:09:48","slug":"road-show-montezuma-county-claims-over-historic-routes-not-in-publics-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/road-show-montezuma-county-claims-over-historic-routes-not-in-publics-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Road show: Montezuma County claims over historic routes not in public\u2019s interest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SHANNON
SHANNON LIVICK\/STAR<br><br>A SECTION OF road on in the Boggy Draw area shows deep ruts. This road , 527.J, is proposed to be closed in recommended Travel Management Plan which the Forest Service is currently taking comments on.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But beyond creating an initial cloud of dust, the resolution does not seem destined to do much more. Nor should it.<\/p>\n

The commissioners contend the routes \u2013 which are located not just in Montezuma County but extend into Dolores, San Miguel and La Plata counties \u2013 were established and drawn on U.S. Geological Survey maps long before the creation of the national forest in 1905.<\/p>\n

So far, so good. This is certainly not the first instance of a local governing body claiming historic jurisdiction over a federally managed route. A legal process exists, under Revised Statute 2477, to prove such claims in court, with final determination left up to a judge.<\/p>\n

But the commissioners\u2019 further contention, that it is not the county\u2019s responsibility to prove their claims, but up to the U.S. Forest Service to disprove them, demonstrates that they don\u2019t know what they\u2019re getting themselves and the county into. Reactions to the resolution are a good indicator of how far off target the commission seems to be.<\/p>\n

In a letter, Dolores County Commissioners Steve Garchar, Julie Kibel and Floyd Cook made clear that they are \u201cadamantly opposed to being included\u201d in Montezuma County\u2019s plans to claim local jurisdiction over the routes. The commissioners also stated in a position memo that using RS 2477 for a claim requires much more than a few old maps.<\/p>\n

Garchar, Kibel and Cook have done their homework, considering whether such a claim is the best use of scarce public funds in the first place, and looking into what kind of future financial commitment would be needed for maintenance should a claim succeed.<\/p>\n

The reaction of Derek Padilla, Dolores District ranger for the San Juan National Forest, was muted. The Forest Service is not against evaluating RS 2477 claims, he said, but it is clear the county bears the burden of proof: \u201cI know the county believes the converse is true,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that is not supported by current law, policy or regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the heart of the issue, somewhat hidden by the cloud of dust, is anger on the part of many Montezuma County residents at limitations imposed by the San Juan National Forest on motorized travel and at fees charged by the forest for traditional uses of the land.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the resolution see more limitations and closures looming in the forest\u2019s pending travel management plans. Taking control of the historic routes would let the county keep them open.<\/p>\n

Many of these concerns are valid and should be taken up with the Forest Service on a case-by-case basis. Again, the commissioners in Dolores County have a better grasp of the situation:<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of trying to litigate them all, it would be best to choose trails that have good documentation \u2026 and fight to maintain the public right of way on those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don Quixote made a career out of tilting at windmills. But he did it on his own time and on his own dime. The Montezuma County commissioners need to choose their battles and their use of the public\u2019s funds more wisely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SHANNON LIVICK\/STAR<br><br>A SECTION OF road on in the Boggy Draw area shows deep ruts. This road , 527.J, is proposed to be closed in recommended Travel Management Plan which the Forest Service is currently taking comments on.du1-i-syn But beyond creating an initial cloud of dust, the resolution does not seem destined to do much more. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5821,5819],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-98556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-opinion","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98556"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=98556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}